1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including a recording medium storage unit, an image forming unit that is arranged above the recording medium storage unit and that form an image on a recording medium obtained from the recording medium storage unit, and a recording medium conveying unit arranged between the recording medium storage unit and the image forming unit to convey the recording media.
2. Description of the Related Art
In electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, devices, such as intermediate transfer devices or fixing devices, that get hot are arranged inside main bodies of the apparatuses. Therefore, the image forming apparatuses include cooling mechanisms that introduce air from outside the apparatuses to maintain the inside temperature in an appropriate range, that cool, with the air, the devices to be hot, and that discharge the air after cooling to the outside of the apparatuses.
As such a cooling mechanism, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2013-6484 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-240703 disclose a structure in which a cooling mechanism including a fan to blow air on the surface of an intermediate transfer belt, an air discharge fan, a ventilation duct, or the like are arranged on the outer side of the intermediate transfer belt to cool the intermediate transfer belt.
Incidentally, in an image forming apparatus capable of forming images at high speed, the amount of heat generated in the apparatus increases and it is increasingly necessary to mount a cooling mechanism with higher performance. Therefore, it is necessary to use a fresh air supply path (duct) with a larger cross-sectional area to introduce cooling air.
However, in the image forming apparatus, an image forming device including a developing device and a photoconductor drum, a secondary transfer device, a fixing device, an exposing device, a sheet conveying device, and the like are arranged without a space. Therefore, in reality, there is no extra space for arranging the fresh air supply path with a larger cross-sectional area. Furthermore, if the fresh air supply path is arranged around each of the devices inside the apparatus, the size of the main body of the apparatus including all of the devices and the fresh air supply path increases, resulting in the increased footprint.
Therefore, there is a need for an image forming apparatus capable of arranging a fresh air supply path with a larger cross-sectional area without increasing footprint.